The SEM Fund, or the Senegal Ecovillage Microfinance Fund, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to alleviating poverty by providing affordable business loans aimed at strengthening the business skills and livelihoods of highly motivated microentrepreneurs that lack access to the commercial banking system.  Currently, our focus is the thirty-eight poverty-stricken villages in the West African nation of Senegal, which are a part of the Global Ecovillage Network, Senegal. 

The SEM Fund’s mission is to help break the cycle of poverty afflicting the people of developing countries.  We are based on the premise that effective and sustainable development can be achieved by opening up opportunities for poor people to control their own economic futures.  We do not provide handouts that create dependencies.

We believe that in order to generate the greatest impact, as much of our funding as possible should be used for the communities in which we work.  Therefore, donations to The SEM Fund go towards expanding our reach throughout Senegal and providing loans which once repaid will be loaned out again, thus creating a revolving loan fund.

As part of our commitment to complete transparency, The SEM Fund has had its operational information and financial reports audited by CICE Senegal and published by the MIX Market, a third-party microfinance reporting organization. Click here to review SEM's MIX Market Profile.